The Spider and the Butterfly
by Like Weiss on Rice
Summary: Naraku ponders the little butterfly that he has caught in his web.


The Spider and the Butterfly

By Like Weiss on Rice

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Disclaimer: I do not own Inu-Yasha or the characters within.

Warnings: N/K – PG – maybe a little kissing and hugging… that's about it.

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It was like any other day. He sat in his corner and she was sitting obediently next to him. He plotted while she knit together something or another. _Click. Clink. Click._

"Why do you always do that?" He asked, aggravated. "What are you making?"

"I am just making a blanket." She smiled at him. "For you."

That infuriating smile that he loathed. When he brought her here he intended to break her. Smother the life out of her. Instead she was sitting there smiling and making a blanket _for him_. And the worst part about it was… he knew he would use it.

_Click. Clink. Click. _"Are you finished thinking yet?" She inquired.

"Not yet." And he would sit a while longer, if to do nothing more than to ponder her. When he brought her here she was sad and he had enjoyed it.

She no longer had her friends, her family… wherever they were. The years went by and he held her there. They thought she had died. She got to see them in the mirror. The monk died and the tormented woman followed after him into the vacuum that was his hand. The little kitten the woman loved loyally perched itself upon her shoulder and purred loudly for her when the end came. The kit grew lonely and sick without her and passed away. Inu-Yasha had followed Kikyo to the grave. So all in all she had no one anymore. And yet after a few years she had become happy again.

"Why are you so cheerful?" He couldn't help but ask.

"I don't know." She answered honestly. _Click. Clink. Click. _She never missed a loop, a line. "Maybe because I have you."

"Me?" His voice was full of mirth.

"Mm hm." She nodded._ Click. Clink. Click._

Since he had brought her here he remembered her growing old. In her own little way she won over him in the end. Instead of using the jewel to make himself whole he used it to make her live forever as well.

He tried to explain the phenomenon to himself. 'I just want her around to torment. To let her live out her despair for all time until I deem it fit to destroy her myself.'

They were both whole… unexpectantly to say the least. He was stripped of his special abilities, stripped of the voices that dogged his every thought. The only thing that remained was the spider in him. He was both venomous and reclusive and he enjoyed staying hidden, only attacking when it suited him. And while he enjoyed his added strength at first he became tame and was not tempted to venture out into the world. Why leave when he had everything he ever wanted right here? He often wondered when he began thinking like this.

The spider like scar on his back was gone… only to be replaced by some silly pattern found on common spider demons. She had said it was lovely… foolish woman. "And how am I cheerful?"

"You're not." She stated. _Click. Clink. Click. _"That is why I must be."

He did not understand. "Why must you be?" He drawled. "Trying to change me?"

"No, you do that yourself." She finally stopped, and looked at him. "Maybe I chose the wrong words. I am cheerful because I want to be… because there is no point in being sad."

"You have every reason to be sad." He threw back. She began knitting again and it once again wore on his nerves.

"But I have you." She repeated.

He finally realized how that sounded. "You do not _have_ me." He ground out. "I have you."

"Ah ha! But if you have me I must have you." She said triumphantly.

"You are nothing but a mere butterfly caught in my web." He grinned, but his lips faltered when he realized her face hadn't reacted the way he wanted it to.

"Yes I am." She said softly. "I am a butterfly caught in your web." She finished, knotting the end and bit the yarn with her sharp teeth. "But what good is the butterfly to the spider when he lets his butterfly rot in the cocoon he has made for her? She will wilt away and die."

"That is why he tends to her… to let her live a while longer."

"Is he trying to fatten her up?" She smoothed out the finished blanket with her hands, impressed with her handiwork.

"Maybe." He pronounced carefully.

"Do you not find it funny that both spiders and butterflies both spin threads?" She asked suddenly. She surveyed the blanket with care, looking for a snag to appear at the surface.

"Caterpillars spin threads." He replied, "Not the butterflies."

"Are you sure?" She asked. "This one can."

"She is too clever for her own good." He sighed. "She finds a way to do these things…" He wanted to say 'to irritate him' but thought better of it.

"I think I know why the spider keeps the butterfly around." She finally said, her smile so bright, bright as her clothing with its greens, blues and blacks. A smile that was as bright as her eyes… as bright as the sun. It burned him but he didn't care.

"Why is that?" He asked, bemused.

"Because," She wrapped him and herself within the covers, "The spider knows how to knit, but every time he does it is full of holes. He cannot keep himself sheltered… so he keeps the butterfly around to make him blankets… so he will stay warm."

"Interesting theory." He whispered. "But I know why he truly keeps her around."

"Why is that?"

"So he will not be so alone." His eyes were dark and red, her eyes such a deep blue.

"Does the spider get very lonely?" She asked.

"Sometimes." He pulled her onto his lap fully, untangling her hair with his fingers. "He was very lonely before the butterfly fell into his web. But he never cared before then."

"How sad." She rested her head on his shoulder.

He continued as if she never interrupted him. "And once she was in his web he could not find the heart to let her go."

"Didn't she die?" She asked. "From being in his web for so long?"

"She was going to." He pressed his face into her hair. "But in the end he released her from his web."

"But she wanted to stay." She continued. "She would miss him if she left."

"Of course."

"So she decided to visit the flowers every day." She held him tighter. "But she would always come back."

"He would die if she didn't." He confessed.

"Do you think the spider loved the butterfly?"

"I don't know." He grinned. "Maybe."

"I'm sure he did… but why wouldn't he tell her?" She asked.

"Maybe because he was a proud little spider. Maybe he was embarrassed for falling in love with the butterfly." He covered.

"Why?"

Why must she be so persistent? "The little butterfly is overstepping her bounds." He warned.

"What will you do then?" She laughed, dropping the façade. "Will you eat me?"

He grinned at that, pressing her to the floor. Sunlight seeped in from the tiny holes in the blanket. "I might have to."

"Oh my!" She giggled when he nibbled at her throat.

"He did." He spoke into her neck.

"He did what?" She questioned, her laughter coming to an abrupt halt.

"The spider… he loved her." She was sure he might have blushed… but he didn't do that sort of thing. She would never be able to tell, she couldn't see. But she would imagine him doing so and she could smile at that image forever.

"Was that so hard to say?" She giggled again.

"More than you realize."

"I know how the story ends." She told him.

"Do you?" He pressed himself into her fully. "Tell me the ending then."

"They lived happily ever after… and had strange little spiderfly babies."

His laughter boomed overhead like thunder, and she joined in. It was like any other day… but today… was perfect.

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Author's Notes 1/1/07:

I completed this work and posted it on fanfiction on 1/07/05. I finally decided to go back through and edit it a bit. I found lots of spelling errors and I removed a TON of ellipses from the story. Words were also changed to help the story flow better (I know it doesn't seem that way though). I hope it's easier to read now.

I might not be writing for Naraku and Kagome anymore but I still love the pairing.

This story is also on my deviant art account:


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